Inventions awarded at British Innovation Show

WINNING DESIGNS:：The Taiwanese award-winning inventions included a UV-LED sterilization device for footware and a wave power-generating system

Staff writer, with CNA, LONDON

Sun, Oct 28, 2012 - Page 3

Taiwan won three special awards on Friday at the 12th British Invention Show, the UK’s largest exhibition of invention, innovation and technology held at the Barbican Center from Oct. 24 to Oct. 27.

About 150 exhibits from 15 countries were judged by a panel of 25 experts on behalf of the British Inventor’s Society for the World Invention Award and British Invention of the Year Awards, which were presented in London on Friday.

Taiwan’s delegation to the show presented 23 creations, which were submitted by research teams from eight universities, two senior high schools and two companies.

One of the Taiwanese designs to win an award was an energy-controlled LED lighting device created by associate professor Tsai Yen-hsin (蔡彥欣) from Taipei Chengshih University of Science and Technology and his students.

The device was honored with a Diamond Award at the invention show, an annual event created to develop new business opportunities by bringing together innovation and enterprise, investors and inventors, designers and manufacturers.

The winning LED invention is equipped with infrared rays and can automatically adjust its brightness based on the movement of vehicles and people, Tsai said.

The patented light fitting, which is capable of using 90 percent less energy than traditional lamps and lighting tubes, can be used in indoor parking places thanks to microwave sensors, he added.

Tsai’s team also won a Double Gold Award for an automatic sterilization device designed for shoes.

The sterilization device “is convenient for people who wear shoes for long periods of time, for bowling alley operators and for people with athlete’s foot, for example,” Tsai said, explaining that the disinfection rate of the UV-LED sterilizer reached more than 99 percent after four hours of operation.

The device, which has a timer, allows the user to rapidly dry, disinfect, sterilize and deodorize shoes. It can be adapted to any kind of footwear regardless of its shape and size, the inventor said.

The device has been patented and is to be commercialized, he added.

The other Taiwanese design to win a special award was a wave power-generating system created by a team headed by professor Chou Chien-heng (周鑑恆) from Vanung University in Taoyuan County. The system received a Platinum Award.